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CBY Tri-Dome Construction
Camp Big Yurtta successfully built a tri-dome at Burning Man 2018. At the time there wasn't much information on how to build a tri-dome beyond the Edmund Harriss pdf and general knowledge from Appropedia. Below is how we figured out how to pre-build, transport, and erect a tri-dome. Knowledge You Need The construction of the tri-dome follows most of the principles of the standard hexayurts. Before proceeding, use Appropedia and the internet-at-large to learn the following: # RMAX Board: What is it, why is it used for hexayurts, what are its strengths and weaknesses? Why you need to cut half the boards one direction, and half the other. # Bi-Filament tape: What, why, how. (buy your tape early!) # The Camp Danger Hinge: The tri-dome uses 250% more danger hinges as a typical yurt. Know the difference between a tight hinge and a loose hinge. # Aluminum foil tape: How to use it and where # Table saw: How to use one safely. Components I built models to figure it out how to create the geometry, and also used the model as a guide throughout the pre-assembly process. * 6 full boards are taped together with tight hinges to make the 3 squares * 12 triangles are taped together to create 2 standard arcs - arcs that end on an 8'-0" side * 18 triangles are taped together to create 3 hypotenuse arcs - arcs that end on the long angled side. * 2 triangles are left over for the door. Special Note: If you need to pack your yurt flat, one of the hypotenuse arcs will be created in 2 pieces: 4 triangles spanning hypo-to-hypo, and 2 pieces spanning hypo-hypo (which actually means that the two 8'-0" sides are taped together with a tight hinge!) These will "tile" in the stacking process. On playa, you'll tape this arc together to create the third hypotenuse arc. Making your own model is highly encouraged, but for reference, the entire pre-assembly process is detailed here, with diagrams: CBY Tri-Dome Pre-Assembly Packing Per the special note above, this tri-dome was designed to stack flat. It is 4'x8'x22", but in practice that 22" (for 22 one inch sheets) is probably twice as thick. We got 4 sheets of plywood in order to sandwich the rmax boards in two stacks (one 12, one 10), with ratchet straps cinching each sandwich together. Budget 4' x 8' x 3' of space. For us, this fit in a standard uhaul cargo van (vertically against one wall) with room for 6 bikes, lots of water, and most of our supplies. The Trick I was stumped for a long time trying to construct the tri-dome like a typical yurt. Typically, you tape the sides together, then lift the roof into place and tape it on. On a typical yurt, this tape seal is at 4'-0" or 6'-0" high, easily reachable from inside and out. On the tri-dome, this tape seal is 8'-0" away from you, at an angle. You could reach it from the inside, but not the outside. Then I found this photo, and it turned everything on its head. For the tri-dome, you have to first tape the wall sections to the roof, and then raise the roof and lift sections of wall up two at a time to seal them with tape. On Playa First, lay out your tarps. We used two tarps; no one tarp was big enough. Once the dome is up, you'll cut 6" outboard of the dome footprint, and then tape the tarp up onto the wall panels, sealing all the way around. With your tarp laid out (uncut still), take the two roof arcs and tape them together to create the roof. Lay it in the center of your tarps. Note: The dome is 25-7" diameter when built, but it is 32'-0" in diameter during setup! Plan ahead, talk to your neighbors, and be considerate. Make your rope loop and put it over the roof, with several ropes tied off of it. The tri-dome is most vulnerable to wind during construction, so you need to have ropes in place (not yet bolted to the playa) so that you can grab on and tame your yurt if required.' It would be a very bad idea to put up the tri-dome if it's windy.' The One-Sided Hinge This is the first of two innovations of the Camp Big Yurtta tri-dome construction method. Or at least, things I didn't find online anywhere. Other tri-domes have been built on playa, so they must have figured out their own ways, or done some variation of the below. The tape hinge between the roof and each wall panel needs to be loose, but with the roof on the ground you'll only be able to tape the top side. There also would be no way to keep the 1/2" gap between the boards as the tape would immediately stick to itself. So! The one-sided hinge: First, lay down an 8'-0" long by 2" wide strip of paper (use the brown paper backing of the aluminum foil tape!), taping it in a few places to keep it centered on the 1/2" gap. Then, tape 6" bi-filament tape down the length of the hinge. You'll have 2" of coverage on either side of the paper; the paper prevents the tape from sticking to itself to maintain the gap. Paint Rolling This is the second innovation. # Once all 6 panels (3 squares, 3 arcs) are taped to the roof with the one-sided hinge, take a 6" roll of bi-filament tape and "start" it at the edge of one roof angle, taping 8" up the roof, with the roll left resting on the roof. # Two people get underneath the roof, and pressing up on the two sides of the roof adjacent to the starter roll, raise the roof. # Two more people are holding the ends of the two wall panels, and slowly pull them together as the roof raises up. # Once the two panels are touching, a fifth person uses a paint roller (without the fluffy part) on an extendable arm to hook the starter-tape and slowly pull it down the joint. You can use a broom or the roller again to press the tape down. # Move one panel over, add another starter tape (actually, have two more starter tapes on before the first panel is raised, because you won't be able to reach the next adjacent joint once the first two walls are taped together.) Repeat steps 2 through 4. The two under-roof people are staying under the roof this whole time. Choose smaller people, and don't choose claustrophobic people. # Repeat step 5 until you have a tri-dome # Go inside (because you've cut your door hole already!) and tape the inside edge of each joint (roof-to-wall and wall-to-wall) Note: This tri-dome method requires at least 5 people to erect. This should be easy, because why are you building a tri-dome if you don't have a lot of people to house in it! We had 6 people, which worked well. I would recommend having an additional 2-3 people (campmates, neighbors, etc) standing around, holding on to the ropes. The Door The door is cut into one of the square pieces and uses the 2 spare triangles to create a vestibule. Full instructions are here. Time Lapse Video Here is a time-lapse video of Camp Big Yurtta on playa building the tri-dome. It took about 3 hours. On Youtube you can slow the video down; the one-sided hinge and the first paint-rolling is visible before it gets dark. (I'm the one in the sea-green shirt) Caution Appropedia has this to say about nearodesic domes: "These are challenging to build, uncertain in major playa winds. If you're building these, you should overbuild them, miter them, and tie them down very securely. Know what you're doing. Having one of these blow across your neighbors' camps would be BAD" Presumably there have been some failures over the years which have prompted the above. For CBY, we didn't "overbuild" (what does that even mean??) or miter them, and were super inexperienced: we didn't know what we were doing at all! There was no trial run, the first time the dome actually went up was day one of Burning Man. We checked the hinges & joints every morning and evening to make sure everything was still sticking together, and did some reinforcing mid-week. The dome had more "flex" than I would have liked. It seemed to breathe in and out which weakened the stickiness of the on-playa hinges. Next time I think we'll make the 1/2" gap on the one-sided danger hinges a tiny bit smaller, and use more ratchet straps in the tie-down to pin the dome tight to the playa. It is fully possible that we were crazy lucky and next year will be a total disaster. Who knows! That's what makes Burning Man fun, right? Thanks This tri-dome construction would not have been possible without all the research and knowledge on Appropedia and the original Hexayurt website, or without Edmund Harriss's design. As well, the photo of a tri-dome midway thru construction appeared at the critical moment. This tri-dome was built by all of Camp Big Yurtta and would not have happened without everyone's support, on-the-fly problem solving, and perseverance. Special thanks as well to our theme camp Savage Kingdom, and Queen Bee, Stone, & Bobcat. <3 <3 <3 ~ whisper __FORCETOC__ __NOEDITSECTION__ __NONEWSECTIONLINK__